Find it at: Mt Bold Reservoir
Exciting news with Mt Bold opened for land-based recreational activities. The opening sees a 12km+ trail network established for hiking, running and walking, a new lookout and viewing platform with views across the dam wall and Mount Lofty Ranges, and a new car park, toilets and facilities for picnicking.Unlocking access to the southern section of the reserve enables the new trails to connect with the Kidman and Heysen walking trails, along with the Onkaparinga National Park and Willunga Basin Trail.
File this under ‘adventures that are 10 minutes from home that you never thought to visit’! Mt Bold is South Australia’s biggest reservoir (lets just say it holds a gazillion litre of water….give or take a litre of 2) and it makes for a very cool little afternoon adventure.
Located about about 10 minutes drive from Clarendon (magnificent bakery which should be included in your day out), follow the very easy to follow signs and before you know it, you will reach the pretty awe inspiring reservoir dam wall. Open from 9am til 4pm every day except Christmas day, the wall stands a nudge over 50m tall and legitimately feels about 5 times that high! What we loved was just parking the car in the nearby car park (right next to the toilets too) and taking a leisurely stroll over the dam wall (at about 200m in length it is a nice little walk to and fro), with plenty of spots to be able to glance over straight down the wall face and try your hardest not to crap your pants from the height!
Mr 6 actually enjoyed learning about why we have the reservoir and all the practical info as to why we have it (there are several info signs around the wall explaining how it was built and how it works in Adelaide’s water supply which was great), whereas I was thinking he would just enjoy the enormous scale of the wall. You can’t explore the entire reserve like you now can at other reservoirs around Adelaide (If that is more your thing try Myponga!), but it was actually a really impressive to visit.
Random, free places to explore with the kids is really one of the best things to do as a parent, plus it will get you out and about exploring our fantastic state as well! I had driven past the turn off a heap of times but had never visited before, so grab the clan, get a donut from the bakery and check out something Mr 6 called ‘ginormous’.
Find out more about the reservoir from the info page here, and don’t forget to check out this map of the reserve.
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